A character remarkable in Scripture. We have her history in Gen. 38. throughout. Her name signifies palm - tree. There are some circumstances in the history of this woman which strike the mind with astonishment. We read them, we ponder them, and when this is done we commonly say, the "Lord’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither our ways his ways. (Isaiah lv. 8) It is a very remarkable circumstance also, that in the genealogy given by the Evangelist Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, of our Lord JesusChrist, in the first chapter of his gospel, no mention is made of any women but of this Thamar, verse 3; of Rachab or Rahab the harlot, verse 5; Ruth the poor Moabitess, verse 5; and Bathsheba the wife of Uriah, verse 6. Was this intentional to set forth the grace of JEHOVAH and the unparralleled condescension of the Lord Jesus? Who shall answer the question? Who shall explain the subject? One thing is certain; as every thing in redemption is mysterious, so in our exercises on mysteries the lowest humbleness of opinion becomes the highly - favoured objects of such unheard of mercy Lord! I would say for myself and reader, "thy way is in the sea: and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known." (Ps. l27. 19.)
Tamar, 1
Ta´mar (palm-tree), a Canaanitish woman, espoused successively to the two sons of Judah, Er and Onan; but as they both died childless, Judah hesitated to give her his third son Shelah, as patriarchal usage required. This set her upon the contrivance described in Genesis 38; and two sons, Pharez and Zarah, thus became the fruit of her criminal intercourse with Judah himself [JUDAH].
Tamar, 2
Tamar, daughter of David by Maacah, who was also the mother of Absalom. The unhappy consequences of the criminal passion entertained for this beautiful damsel by her half-brother Amnon, brutally gratified by him, and terribly avenged by Absalom, formed the groundwork of the family distractions which embittered the latter years of David’s reign (2 Samuel 13) [ABSALOM; AMNON; DAVID].
A palm-tree,\par 1. A Canaanitish woman, mother of Pharez and Zarah, Gen 38:1-30 .\par 2. A daughter of David. See TALMAI.\par 3. A daughter of Absalom, 2Sa 14:27 .\par
Ta’mar. (palm tree).
1. The wife, successively, of the two sons of Judah, Er and Onan. Gen 38:8-30. (B.C. about 1718). Her importance in the sacred narrative depends on the great anxiety to keep up the lineage of Judah. It seemed as if the family were on the point of extinction. Er and Onan had successively perished suddenly.
Judah’s wife, Bathshuah, died; and there only remained a child, Shelah, whom Judah was unwilling to trust to the dangerous union as it appeared, with Tamar, lest he should meet with the same fate as his brothers. Accordingly, she resorted to the desperate expedient of entrapping the father himself into the union, which he feared for his son. The fruits of this intercourse were twins, Pharez and Zarah, and, through Pharez, the sacred line was continued.
2. Daughter of David and Maachah, the Geshurite princess, and thus, sister of Absalom. 2Sa 13:1-32; 1Ch 3:9. (B.C. 1033). She and her brother were alike remarkable for their extraordinary beauty. This fatal beauty inspired a frantic passion in her half-brother Amnon, the oldest son of David by Ahinoam. In her touching remonstrance, two points are remarkable: first, the expression of the infamy of such a crime "in Israel" implying the loftier standard of morals that prevailed, as compared with other countries at that time; and second, the belief that even this standard might be overborne lawfully , by royal authority --
"Speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from thee." The intense hatred of Amnon succeeding to his brutal passion, and the indignation of Tamar at his barbarous insult, even surpassing her indignation at his shameful outrage, are pathetically and graphically told.
3. Daughter of Absalom, 2Sa 14:7, became, by her marriage with Uriah, of Gibeah, the mother of Maachah, the future queen of Judah, or wife of Abijah. 1Ki 15:2. (B.C. 1023).
4. A spot on the southeastern frontier of Judah, named in Eze 47:19; Eze 48:28 only, evidently called from a palm tree. If not Hazazon-tamar, the old name of Engedi, it may be a place called Thamar in the Onamasticon, see Hazazon-tamar, a day’s journey south of Hebron.
[Ta’mar]
1. Wife of Er and Onan, and by Judah, mother of Pharez and Zarah. Gen 38:6-30; Rth 4:12; 1Ch 2:4. Called THAMAR in Mat 1:3.
2. Daughter of David and Maachah, violated by Amnon, and avenged by Absalom in the death of Amnon. 2Sa 13:1-32; 1Ch 3:9.
3. Daughter of Absalom. 2Sa 14:27.
4. City on the south-east of Judah. Eze 47:19; Eze 48:28. Not identified. See TADMOR.
By: Isidore Singer, Jacob Zallel Lauterbach
1.—Biblical Data:
Daughter-in-law of Judah. After the death of her husband, Er, she married his brother Onan; but when he also died, Judah sent her back to her father's house, fearing to let her marry his third son, Shelah. When Tamar saw that Shelah, having reached maturity, did not marry her, she disguised herself and met Judah on his way to Timnath. Supposing her to be of questionable virtue, he approached her and entered into relations with her that resulted in her pregnancy. As a pledge of payment, he left with her his staff, seal, and belt. When her condition was discovered, and she was about to be burned to death in punishment for unchastity, she confronted her father-in-law with the tokens he had left with her, declaring that she was with child by the man to whom they belonged. She bore him the twins Zarah and Pharez (Gen. xxxviii.).
—In Rabbinical Literature:
Tamar was the daughter of Shem, the son of Noah. Shem was a priest, and when Tamar was charged with fornication (Gen. R. lxxxv. 11) she was condemned to be burned to death in conformity with Lev. xxi. 9.
In the house of Judah, her father-in-law, she was extremely virtuous and timid, and used to keep her face constantly covered with a veil, so that Judah failed to recognize her when he saw her sitting by the roadside (Soṭah 10b; Gen. R. lxxxv. 9). Tamar prayed to God that she might not go barren from Judah's house, and resolved upon the course which she subsequently pursued (Gen. R. lxxxv. 8). In reply to Judah's questions she declared that she was not a Gentile, and that she was unmarried (Gen. R. lxxxv. 9; Soṭah 10a). When she had become pregnant she was not at all ashamed of her condition, but boasted to all that she would be the mother of kings and redeemers (Gen. R. lxxxv. 11). When charged with unchastity, she was unwilling to assert directly that she was with child by her father-in-law, for she feared that such a disclosure might humiliate him, and she was ready to die rather than incriminate him (Ber. 43a; Soṭah 12b). She was willing, however, indirectly to cause him to confess, and therefore sent him the articles which he had left her as a pledge, and which had beentaken from her by Samael and restored by Gabriel. After her innocence had been proved, Judah continued to live with her in marital relations (Soṭah 10b).
2.—Biblical Data:
Sister of Absalom, and the victim of the passion of her half-brother Amnon. At the suggestion of Jonadab, his confidant, Amnon feigned illness, and Tamar was sent by the king to his apartment to prepare food for him. Amnon took advantage of this opportunity to dishonor her forcibly, after which he drove her away. Weeping and lamenting, she went to her brother Absalom, in whose house she remained. Absalom avenged his sister two years later by killing Amnon (II Sam. xiii.).
—In Rabbinical Literature:
Tamar was the natural daughter of David by a captive whom he married after she had abjured her Gentile religion, and who became the mother of Absalom. Because of her illegitimacy it would have been lawful for her to marry Amnon, the son of David, and she therefore besought him (II Sam. xiii. 13) not to dishonor her, but to ask the king to bestow her on him as his wife, a request which would surely have been granted (Sanh. 21a).
TAMAR.—1. A Canaanite woman, married to Er and then to his brother Onan (see Marriage, 4). Tamar became by her father-in-law himself the mother of twin sons, Perez and Zerah (Gen 38:1-30, Rth 4:12, 1Ch 2:4, Mat 1:3). 2. The beautiful sister of Absalom, who was violated and brutally insulted by her half-brother, Amnon (2Sa 13:1 ff.). 3. A daughter of Absalom (2Sa 14:27). 4. See next article.
TAMAR.—In Eze 47:19; Eze 48:28 the S.E. boundary-mark of the restored kingdom of Israel. No proposed identification has been successful, since no place of this name has been found in the region required, that is, near the S. end of the Dead Sea. It is possibly the same place that is mentioned in 1Ki 9:18 as one of the S. fortresses built up by Solomon. Here a variant Heb. reading has Tadmor (wh. see)—a manifest error, which is perhaps borrowed from the parallel passage 2Ch 8:4.
J. F. McCurdy.
(1) The wife of Er, the oldest son of Judah (Gen 38:6 ff). Upon her husband’s death under the displeasure of Yahweh, his brother Onan ought to have performed the husband’s part, but he evaded his duty in this respect, and likewise perished. Shelah, the next brother, was promised to her, but not given. This led Tamar to the extraordinary course narrated in Gen 38:13 ff, on which see JUDAH. By her father-in-law she became the mother of Perez and Zerah (the King James Version “Pharez and Zarah”). Judah, who at first condemned her to be burned (Gen 38:24), was compelled to vindicate her (Gen 38:25, Gen 38:26). Through Perez she became an ancestress of Jesus (
(2) A daughter of David and sister of Absalom (2Sa 13:1 ff). Her beauty inflamed her half-brother Amnon with passion, and by stratagem he forcibly violated her. This brought upon Amnon the terrible revenge of Absalom. See ABSALOM; AMNON.
(3) A daughter of Absalom (2Sa 14:27). See MAACAH.
(Matt 1)
- Probably a Canaanite, an adulterous and scheming daughter-in-law of Judah